Cystic Fibrosis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Cystic Fibrosis - Research Paper Example Reflecting on the experiences of the patient who has CF provides deeper insight in to the illness and shows that it has a great impact on the lives of the child, family, and then the adult who must live with CF. Cystic fibrosis is an illness that only just 70 years ago was fatal for children within their first year. The illness was most often diagnosed during autopsy and an understanding of the illness had yet to emerge. Although increases in treatment improved the prognosis of CF, real knowledge about the illness came in the late 1980s when in 1989 the CFTR gene was discovered. Originally the sweat test was considered the definitive test to determine the presence of the illness derivations of the disease have emerged that defy the sweat test as the gold standard. The treatment for CF has improved to the point that instead of dying as infants, people are now living long into old age through management and care (Bush, 2006). The following paper will examine cystic fibrosis through looking at what is known about the disease in relationship to its pathology, through the developing knowledge that has increased life expectancy, and through the treatments and care that has extended the lives of those who suffer from the illness. The paper will discuss the experiences of those who suffer from the illness as well as how treatment has advanced throughout the last decade. Cystic fibrosis is a devastating disease that has taken the lives of many children, but with the advances that have been made in understanding the disease, people are now living much longer and more meaningful lives as they live with the condition. In 1938 Dr. Dorothy Andersen wrote a landmark medical report in which the illness of cystic fibrosis was differentiated as a separate and distinct illness. In 1953 Dr. Paul di Sant’Agnese and associates came to understand that losses in salt